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On the BBC, discussion about the tyre management had David Coulthard say that it was "pretty rubbish". Hard to disagree especially when at the end some really quick times suddenly came up. Had the same issue our end with Raikkonen, fortunately they subsequently showed every over-take at the end. Didn't know about the record he was working on, pretty cool! It also helps that Raikkonen is Raikkonen and pretty damn hilarious the rest of the time, your quote as an example. Agreed on Sutil too, that was some smashing driving.

That match did remind me once again how dislikeable Ribery is, goes down at the drop of a hat. I generally dislike fans of other sports who go on about footballers being pansies or whatever but I've got to say that listening to the Froch Kessler fight on the radio after and comparing their sheer desire, sportsmanship and respect (Froch's ill judged "kill" comments in midweek as part of the sell the fight malarkey aside) to Ribery's antics you can see where they are coming from.

Even though I was hoping Dortmund would cause an upset Bayern definitely deserved their win after a bit of a shaky start.

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@ F1

Really losing track of it now. I keep an eye on the news but haven't even watched a race this season. It going over to sky has definitely made a difference, I'm never sure exactly when the BBC has live coverage and end up now watching. Shame as it looks like a more competitive season this year. Found myself watching a bit more Moto GP again, that Marquez is a crazy rider, his lean angle is just phenomenal.

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Great to see Cav seal the Giro points victory with a win. Always thought the Giro points system to be a bit off, with climbers being able to amass way too many points compared to the all rounders/sprinters who should be contesting the points jersey. Admittedly he did get a stroke of luck with Saturday's stage cancellation but even if Nibali had taken that stage Cav would have still got enough points to pull clear of Nibali so it's a very impressive victory, especially taking 5 stage wins when only 3 had been earmarked.

Looking forward to seeing Cav take on the likes of Sagan and Greipel at Le Tour. GC should be pretty interesting too, looking forward to seeing Froome vs Contador and judging by his Giro performance it looks like Evans might be a contender again.

I wouldn't say they are pansies, but the diving is horrific and you don't see it in any other sport, at least such a prominent one, and even then so frequently.

I don't know, diving tends to happen in most, if not all contact sports. Granted, football is probably the most frequent one, but it's also a pretty major issue in basketball, and also in hockey. Not that it justifies anything, I hate the practice and I'm saddened that in Brazil it's extremely widespread, and even praised by the stupid "win-at-all-costs" mentality.

I wouldn't say they are pansies, but the diving is horrific and you don't see it in any other sport, at least such a prominent one, and even then so frequently.

IIRC, a Czech hockey player took a dive in the game against Sweden in the recent World Cup. Then again, that was an isolated incident, he was mocked for it and was sent off for unsportsmanlike conduct or something.

I really think that the faking is one of the biggest issues for football today. Not just that it's dishonest, embarrassing and looks ridiculous, but it destroys some of the fun and joy that the game provides. It's not going anywhere of course, since winning is ultimately far more important than fair play and it can't be fully supervised by the refs. The diving culture is actually a main reason for my football interest moving northwards lately.

Ribery is a good player, but I despise him. Not overly fond of Robben either, but that's more of a personality thing.

EDIT: Faldrath's hockey link was saddening, but diving is hardly a major problem for the sport. I don't watch much NHL, but I do watch a bit of hockey and it's a rare occurrence. Football has god-knows-how-many incidents in every single game. It's pathetic.

I don't know, diving tends to happen in most, if not all contact sports. Granted, football is probably the most frequent one, but it's also a pretty major issue in basketball, and also in hockey. Not that it justifies anything, I hate the practice and I'm saddened that in Brazil it's extremely widespread, and even praised by the stupid "win-at-all-costs" mentality.

Mmm, I guess it was my mistake for saying any other sport, but even so it does seem like football is getting the worst of it. Hockey at least still seems to be 'respectful' even though there obviously is diving. Football is making a bad name for itself. Other contact sports like 'murican Football and Rugby have their discipline problems, but diving and feigning injuries seems to have stayed out of the game, for the most part.

I have to go along with Fabuouy, it's just a horrible culture of deception surrounding the sport.

Oh, I don't disagree that it's much worse in football, but I think it's more of a symptom of the "win-at-all-costs" mentality than anything else. In football diving is relatively easy to do and the risk-reward ratio is pretty acceptable, unfortunately (you basically only risk a yellow card. I can't readily recall any instance of someone being sent off just for diving). In American football and rugby, it wouldn't be as effective because, well, players are supposed to tackle each other to the ground there and it's hard to make it look like something illegal. And in hockey the risk-reward ratio is different, because if you become known as a diver, you *will* start to get (legally) checked into oblivion :)

Well that was a cracking grand prix. Disappointments aside, the actual racing element was fantastic and to see most positions open until the very end was something you don't often see and just keeps the excitement going to the end.

Shame to see so many tire blowouts, it's a bit of a farce really, but one that was more dangerous and less entertaining than the other sporting farce of the weekend; the bus blocking the finale of the first stage of Le Tour

Looking forward to Wimbledon today, hopefully Murray and Robson will do well.

The DRS shenanigans and the ridiculous difference between old and tyres, made worse by the fact they don't even last 20 laps, is really sapping my interest in F1. After his late pitstop Alonso was passing cars easier than the LMP1s were lapping the GTs last weekend at Le Mans. Not impressed at all.

Speaking of the Tour de France, Wimbledon and other big tournaments in the coming weeks, the UEFA Women's Championship will start in a few days.

"He has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to
the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free". ~ Luke 4:18

Yeah, the tire situation was absurd. Fair play to Hamilton though for coming back so far. About tires, there really are some odd things going on; didn't Sutil go 50+ laps on one set in Canada? How is he able to get that yet others don't seem to last long at all?

Hamilton was really on fire throughout the weekend. Such a shame for him to lose the chance to win his home GP because of that tyre failure. Speaking of which, Pirelli made a statement with a lot of 'perhaps' and 'might' clauses, saying that it was possible certain parameters for pressure and camber had not been properly observed. Who knows what really went down!

So tennis today. Over the last three years I've found myself watching Wimbledon more and more and I got caught up in the Murray match earlier, starting from near the end of the second set. Quite a match and a half! The final set in particular looked like it had no clear winner until right near the end. Some fantastic volleys too. Lest we not forget Verdasco's hair too, which managed to stay perfectly in place for the entire duration!

So tennis today. Over the last three years I've found myself watching Wimbledon more and more and I got caught up in the Murray match earlier, starting from near the end of the second set. Quite a match and a half! The final set in particular looked like it had no clear winner until right near the end. Some fantastic volleys too. Lest we not forget Verdasco's hair too, which managed to stay perfectly in place for the entire duration!

I normally hate watching tennis but saw he'd staged something of a comeback so decided to watch the last set since...meh nothing better to do.

My only thought about the proceedings? What glorious hair that man had. Kudos to him

Remember kids, a tennis rivalry is for a career not just for Wimbledon. Many more great matches to come from these guys.

Last game encapsulated British tennis at Wimbledon, the nerve shredding tension, the ups and downs; except this time a British guy won.

Strictly (despite the high quality) it wasn't a classic Wimbledon final (indeed the semi between Del Potro and Djokovic was a better match - plus it's great to see Del Potro properly back, not only was it a pleasure to see him at its best but he actually won me over having previously not really liked him) but for once I'm not fussed, I'm quite happy to see a straight sets victory. Great stuff from Murray, was happy to see Nole start going for drop shots, Murray is the best in the world at chasing those down (Djokovic is still the best at side to side movement) and he had plenty of practice in his semi.

Phenomenal performance and Murray deservedly goes down as a multiple grand slam champion. Who knows how many he will win and whether he can wrest the number 1 spot from Novak (he's got a lot of ranking points to defend at the US!).

It might not have been a classic final, but from when I tuned in during the second set, there were a hell of a lot of wonderful plays on both sides. That final game was just ridiculous, but the momentum was all really going in one way at that point.

Grand prix was good to watch too, but again footage hamstringed by only being able to show highlights. It's only proper coverage of an F1 race if the show is started with The Chain playing over some cool footage.

Grand prix was good to watch too, but again footage hamstringed by only being able to show highlights. It's only proper coverage of an F1 race if the show is started with The Chain playing over some cool footage.

Concurred. The highlights format is the reason I've found myself watching more Moto GP than F1 this year.

@ Tennis

The Murray versus Djokovic era (with Nadal still causing mayhem at the French if he is fit) is going to be brilliant to watch. Objectively it's not quite going to match up to the brief period where the big 4 overlapped and were all capable of winning tournaments and I don't think it's quite going to match the Nadal versus Federer years, if only because Murray and Djokovic have very similar styles that, although they make for a supremely entertaining match up, don't quite have the same stylistic clash that marked Federer and Nadal's battles as some of the greatest ever seen in tennis. There's no doubt this era has been a golden age of tennis and it's not quite clear yet who will step up to the mark in the future (certainly Janowicz has staked a much more convincing claim this tournament than the likes of Tomic, Raonic and Cillic) I'm glad we've still got at least a few more years of phenomenal tennis to enjoy. It has truly been a pleasure to watch for the last few years. I loved tennis already during the pre Federer years but ever since he and Nadal stepped onto the scene it has just been outstanding. Long may it continue.

Shame the women's tour is not as entertaining. I used to think it better than the men's (particularly as I only really watched Wimbledon back then, and it was dominated by big servers and short rallies) but Henin and Radwanska aside it has developed into something of a one dimensional slug fest.

Been watching some of the Women's European Football Championship in Sweden. It's obviously not at the level of, say, the recently concluded men's UEFA Champion's League (it seems all national squads suffer from a lack of shared playing experience), but it does have its highlights. It also has some teams that are, for lack of a better term, not really at an international level. But it should only get better now that the first quarter-finals have been played.

One of the best things about it, so far, has been the lack of diving, calling for cards, and other such shenanigans that have made men's football increasingly unappealing to watch. There's some, but it doesn't take up too much time. There's also massively more respect for the referee, and there's no ganging up on her that you so often see in the men's games. Unfortunately the women also heavily employ their hands to grab, drag, and pull their opponents. That sadly seems to have become an accepted part of the game.

Anyway, the second set of quarter-finals are tomorrow. The finals are Sunday next week. My prediction? Sweden-France.

"He has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to
the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free". ~ Luke 4:18